Himachal Pradesh mulls policy to auction timber

Himachal Pradesh's forest department is considering a policy for auctioning felled and grounded trees by chopping them into small round logs instead of long sleepers.

State Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri on Tuesday said this will help auction felled trees on roadsides instead of forest depots and help save transportation and other costs. The minister said the forest department had also decided to fence forest boundaries with cement poles instead of wooden poles.

The state government has also decided to export excess timber.

Bhamouri said the area under forests cover had gone up by 4 per cent to 66.5 per cent in the state. The Forest Survey of India had published the latest forest cover data.